The end of April saw the close of submissions for the 2026 Global Energy Prize, one of the world’s most prestigious awards in the field of energy. The prize is awarded for outstanding scientific and technological achievements. Over the years, it has garnered recognition of the energy industry’s professional community and has evolved into a platform uniting scientists, engineers, and research teams from around the globe.
This year, 63 nominating entries were received. Representatives from 30 countries and territories took part in the nomination process, with the nominees coming from 28 nations. The geographic scope of the participation spans Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The biggest number of submissions came from the U.S. (10), China and India (7 each), Russia (5), Malaysia (4), and Serbia (3). For the first time in the history of the award, nominations were received from Azerbaijan and Malawi.
Most applications (28) were submitted in the “New Ways of Energy Application” category. Twenty-three submissions were received in the “Non-Traditional Energy” category, and 12 in the “Traditional Energy” category. Overall, this distribution of the entries reflects the shift in the research focus towards new technological solutions.
The close of the application period concludes the first stage of the nomination cycle. Next, all the submissions will be evaluated by independent experts based on a fixed set of criteria, including scientific novelty, practical value, and potential for application. Following this evaluation, 15 entries (five in each of the three categories) that will have received the highest score will be included in the shortlist. At the final stage, the laureates will be selected by the International Award Committee chaired by Nobel Laureate Rae Kwon Chung.
The award ceremony will take place in Moscow as part of the Russian Energy Week to be held on October 14 to 16, 2026.
“I would like to congratulate all the scientists who were nominated for the award this year,” said Rae Kwon Chung. “The very fact of their participation in this selection process attests to an unquestioning recognition of the high caliber of their scientific achievements. It is gratifying to see a broad geographic representation once again. That said, the close of the nominations ends just the first stage of the cycle. What lies ahead is serious and painstaking work of the experts who will be compiling a shortlist of the top researchers,” the chairman added.
“We congratulate everyone who was nominated this year,” said Sergey Brilev, President of the Global Energy Association. “Naturally, it is particularly important for us to see new countries among both the nominees and the nominators. It is no less important to observe how the agenda of scientific research is evolving: alongside traditional energy fields, bioenergy, for instance, is starting to play an increasingly prominent role, while the search for new materials and new ways to apply them keeps on going continuously. These trends can be clearly traced in the submissions we receive. I wish all the nominees every success on the upcoming stages,” Dr. Brilev concluded.
